Contemporary Resort tell me what you think

[ndgqccmiller]

We are booked at the Contemporary Resort May 25- June 1 standard room. I visited the resort site, allears, and the Contemporary thread on here. I want you guys to tell me your favorite part of this resort. Tell me about the staff, restuarants(Chef Mickeys is one we visited and loved), best room to stay in IN THE STANDARD section. Unless of course someone on the boards wants to upgrade me as a Christmas gift LOL. No seriously I have only been to the CR once and I know there are people on these boards that love to go to resorts and stay and explore. Give me all the info you can. Thanks

 

[DizzDoll]

We are booked at the Contemporary Resort May 25- June 1 standard room. I visited the resort site, allears, and the Contemporary thread on here. I want you guys to tell me your favorite part of this resort. Tell me about the staff, restuarants(Chef Mickeys is one we visited and loved), best room to stay in IN THE STANDARD section. Unless of course someone on the boards wants to upgrade me as a Christmas gift LOL. No seriously I have only been to the CR once and I know there are people on these boards that love to go to resorts and stay and explore. Give me all the info you can. Thanks

The CR is my favorite deluxe resort. My favorite part happens to be many parts. The pool area is lovely. You can lounge around the pool or crash on the sand by the lake. As long as there's sun and sunblock handy - I'm so there. I've NEVER had any problems with the staff - they've always been more than accomodating to me - from check in to check out and all hours in between. If you're going to the standard section, which is the garden wing, see if you can get a lake view (we had one on the ground floor and loved it). You might also try to get an upper floor because that's where the laundry room is. You can take the boat over to the campgrounds or the WL and check things out over there. You can rent sea raycers from the CR and tool all over the place. Walking to the MK is a snap. Chef Mickey's is OK and we haven't tried the Wave yet. The shops are great. The murals are worth a thousand pictures. The monorails zipping throug will delight your kids. You won't be disappointed.

 

[DLBDS]

I love the CR. Ever since I was a kid in the mid 70's. We just stayed there this Sept. If you ask me, we had the BEST room in the Garden Wing (5150 pic below). Sure, it was the farthest away from the lobby/monorail but a little hike does a body good. We were literally STEPS away from our car the entire trip though. It kinda canceled out the fact that we had to hike to the monorail etc. The Wave was our best meal the entire trip. You won't be disappointed if you decide to give it a try. CMs were great. Mousekeeping was great. If I ever get the chance to stay here again, I won't hesitate to do so! And don't forget, the CR (for now) is the only resort on property with online concierge and FREE internet access (As long as you use the computer in the room. If you want to hook up your own, you'll have to use the ethernet cable and pay the Internet access fee.)

 

[ndgqccmiller]

I love the CR. Ever since I was a kid in the mid 70's. We just stayed there this Sept. If you ask me, we had the BEST room in the Garden Wing (5150 pic below). Sure, it was the farthest away from the lobby/monorail but a little hike does a body good. We were literally STEPS away from our car the entire trip though. It kinda canceled out the fact that we had to hike to the monorail etc. The Wave was our best meal the entire trip. You won't be disappointed if you decide to give it a try. CMs were great. Mousekeeping was great. If I ever get the chance to stay here again, I won't hesitate to do so! And don't forget, the CR (for now) is the only resort on property with online concierge and FREE internet access (As long as you use the computer in the room. If you want to hook up your own, you'll have to use the ethernet cable and pay the Internet access fee.)

Wow what a great view. It may not be the MK but it looks great to me. Thanks for all the great advice.

 

[disneyag]

It's great to be able to walk back to the CR after watching Wishes at the MK! No waiting in lines for busses or monorails.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

The Contemporary is a great place to stay and I am sure your going to have a great time. It's great being the 1st stop on the Monorail when leaving the Magic Kingdom, having the walkway to the Magic Kingdom, watching Wishes from the 4th floor observation deck, (if you don't stay in a Tower Magic Kingdom View) some amazing stores and a great arcade.

 

[MickeyNicki]

The only part we liked was the monorail...the resort didnt feel Disney like to us at all.

 

[Pat329]

The only part we liked was the monorail...the resort didnt feel Disney like to us at all.

I agree with the 'Disney feel' part. The location is great with the monorail and boats. The rooms are bigger than any which is great for families. But the contemporary feel of the place is a little too cold for me. I guess they're keeping with their name but I missed the Disney feel also.

 

[gmi3804]

I just checked out yesterday, traveling alone on business.

I thought the rooms were beautiful, very comfortable, with great beds and SEVEN pillows. I got my king bedded room.

The major complaint was about the bathroom. While beautifully appointed, it had almost NO counter space, save for a 6" x 18" (approx) "counter top" in between the two very large (12" x 12"?) flat sinks. I ended up using the other sink for more counter space. There was plenty of hard-to-reach storage under the sinks on a glass shelf. I can only imagine how tight it would be for a family of four or five to negotiate space in the bathroom while using both sinks. To make things worse, the toilet room had tons of unused space, which seemed like a huge waste to me.

Also, the only drawer space was immediately adjacent to the bed, which required moving the desk chair to access. Again, not very functional.

I loved the easy access to the monorail (had a tower room), and the Bay Lake view from the 10th floor was peaceful and spectacular. The walk to the MK was a bit long (1/2 - 2/3 mile?), but to was easy and quick to return on the monorail because it's the first stop.

The shops were great, the staff predictably courteous and friendly, and I loved my delicious lunch at The Wave. The Grab 'n Go was a bit bare-bones, but that's temporary and I don't eat much in the morning anyway.

If you have a car, it's surprisingly remote for an MK resort, requiring a long drive around the MK parking lot to get back to the main drag (World Drive).

Ask any other questions you may have. I'm happy to try and help.

 

[dawz1026]

I hate the place personally..no offense to anyone.I just feel it looks like an airport.

 

[NJRRK]

I hate the place personally..no offense to anyone.I just feel it looks like an airport.

Ah, but have you stayed there? To each their own, we love the CR, but first looks don't always give you the best example of what the resort is like. We loved the look of the GF but were disappointed with our stay, the walking and the room decor, we still love to go to the GF to look around and eat but we'll never stay there again, it's not us.

Next time we're going to try the Poly, we like the resort and we hope not to be disappointed with the room like we were with the GF. But we know that we always have the CR to go back to.

Again, please don't think I'm slamming you for not liking the CR but unless you stay somewhere you can't get the full feel of the resort.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Again, please don't think I'm slamming you for not liking the CR but unless you stay somewhere you can't get the full feel of the resort.

That's a great point because no matter the Resort you can not get what it's really like unless you stay there, so just going to visit for a meal and etc does not tell the whole story.

 

[DLBDS]

The only part we liked was the monorail...the resort didnt feel Disney like to us at all.

To me, it's the most 'Disney' resort on property. I stayed here when I was a kid in the mid 70's. We were in the tower and the monorail was a huge thing to me back then. I'm still in awe when I see it coming through. Nothing says 'Disney' like the CR!!

 

[gmi3804]

To me, it's the most 'Disney' resort on property. I stayed here when I was a kid in the mid 70's. We were in the tower and the monorail was a huge thing to me back then. I'm still in awe when I see it coming through. Nothing says 'Disney' like the CR!!

I agree with you. CR and Poly are the "Disney" resorts for me, having stayed on my first trip at the Poly (and, for part of that week, in the Golf Resort!) in '74. So these two will always be the quintessential properties for me. Wilderness Lodge has earned its place in my admired places. I am not a fan of the overly fussy environments of the Beach/Yacht/Boardwalk properties. Still, I've never stayed in any of those three and think if I did I'd still enjoy them. But they'll never have the cache of the other three.

 

[ndgqccmiller]

Thanks everyone I am looking forward to the CR. Our kids really wanted to stay there. I can't wait to explore. Is there a mall style place to eat like in the values and moderates. Or are they all sit dow resturants

 

[DiznEeyore]

I love the CR. Ever since I was a kid in the mid 70's. We just stayed there this Sept. If you ask me, we had the BEST room in the Garden Wing (5150 pic below). Sure, it was the farthest away from the lobby/monorail but a little hike does a body good. We were literally STEPS away from our car the entire trip though. It kinda canceled out the fact that we had to hike to the monorail etc.

I would LOVE to have that view -- it's amazing!!

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Contemporary is one of my favorite Disney hotels (there are only 4 that I like: GF, Poly, CR, and BC). Here's some reasons why.

1. Magic Kingdom view (from my room, California Grill, or even the concourse observation deck). This is perhaps the best view in WDW. You see MK in all of its glory (Space Mountain couldn't be closer), the Grand Floridian across the water, and the longhouses of the Polynesian. It's fun to watch the buses, boats, and monorail circling around, and the lights that go on at MK during the night are gorgeous! I don't even need to mention the fireworks.
2. Renovated rooms are fantastic! Besides the irritating bathrooms, these rooms are my second favorite at WDW (behind GF). And they're incredibly spacious. The only standard rooms that are larger are at the Polynesian, in the newer longhouses.
3. Monorail goes right through the tower, nothing is more convenient
4. California Grill, my favorite WDW restaurant
5. Overall location is great, you can walk to MK and you're one monorail stop from the TTC

There are plenty of things I don't like about the resort. Service, mousekeeping, elevators, room bathrooms, pool area, and the non-CG restaurants have all been issues for me in the past (and that's leaving out the lack of an immersive theme-an area where every other deluxe resort does better). But, I enjoy the positives so much that CR is still one of my favorite Disney resorts.

 

[angboys3]

Okay, so would California Grill be best choice for romantic dinner for two grown ups or one of the nicer resturants at Grand Floridian? We are going to be staying at Contemporary but will probably take kids to Neverland kids club one night or get babysitter for room and go out one night.

 

[ndgqccmiller]

Thanks everyone. Can anyone give me heads up about the CR buses. Are they generally pretty quick? How long does it take to get to Downtown Disney, AK and Hollywood Studio?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Thanks everyone. Can anyone give me heads up about the CR buses. Are they generally pretty quick? How long does it take to get to Downtown Disney, AK and Hollywood Studio?

Well the Contemporary will always share bus service with the Polynesian and at the time same time they might share with the Contemporary. However when being picked up and dropped off the Contemporary is the 1st stop, which means the Polynesian is 2nd and Grand Floridian is 3rd. The buses usually come every 20 minutes or so and there should be a Cast Member standing outside marking down which buses come and their destination, so they should tell you when others should be arriving. As for how long it takes to get to each location, I would say at least 20 - 30 minutes, however for whatever reason the Downtwon Disney buses seem to the worst.